The 22-year-old has recently broken into Louis van Gaal’s first-team thinking, with a bright future anticipated for the winger.

Lingard has spent time out on loan at Leicester City, Birmingham City, Brighton and Hove Albion and Derby County over the years, but appears more than ready for regular Premier League action.

The Warrington-born attacker was also called into Roy Hodgson’s most-recent England squad, but he did not make his debut for the Three Lions and was an unused substitute against France at Wembley.

Meulensteen knows Lingard well from their mutual time together at Old Trafford, and the Dutch coach has high hopes for the starlet, stating that his style of play is similar to the current Barcelona captain.

“I see him as the English version of Iniesta," Meulensteen told United Review.

"He has still got a long way to go but that is the sort of player I see in him.”

Gareth McKnight

I am a freelance football journalist from Northern Ireland, currently living and working from Broome in Western Australia. After a degree in sports journalism from the University of Stirling in Scotland, I started in the online football world and have worked for leading websites and media outlets since. My knowledge and passion is based around the Premier League and European football, but I also have a soft spot for the Australian A-League.